Overall a damning expose of UK newspapers. This explains how the situation has arisen here and also how the phone hacking scandal is not a one-off , but part of a general trend. He has myriad examples and stories to show the breadth of the operation involving business, government and the technology and psychology of news creation. The Press Complaints Council (PCC) is shown to be a sham. I think the most frightening statistic is that only 0.69% of the 28,000 complaints against the press get anywhere at all. The sad indictment is that the press can print any old stuff in the knowledge that the vast majority of the population can do absolutely nothing and are unable to use the law to protect themselves. Well, this is cheerful stuff. Nick Davies, respected journalist, gives the lie to the notion that the biggest threat to journalism is the interference of owners or the threats of advertisers. His thesis is that the drive for profits has driven journalism to the brink of destruction. Staff cuts and spending cuts have resulted in fewer journalists working with fewer resources on more stories. Unfortunately those stories are provided by the booming new sector that is the Public Relations industry, which is not above manufacturing news and events and whipping up fear and disinformation. Meanwhile, the network of reporters who used to cover all sorts of stories from all over the world has shriveled to nothing. Which leaves us with the interesting question of how true the picture of the world presented to us daily in the media actually is.Davies traces the decline of old-fashioned journalistic practices and values and the rise of the new 'churnalism,' which reproduces and rewrites PR copy without much in the way of checking or exploring or context. Not everything you read on your newspapers or see on your television is churnalism. But a lot of it is. He also touches on the campaign of lies, distortions and misinformation that was part of the build-up to the invasion of Iraq, shocking in its scope and in the utter capitulation of the media in the face of the official line.Just when you thought you were outraged out, Davies saves the most appalling for last: The Daily Mail and the Press Complaints Commission. One routinely lies and distorts and attacks innocent targets with unmitigated ferocity. The other turns down more than 90% of the complaints it receives without even considering their content.It ends on a note of pessimism. The only real solution, unstated by Davies, is for a widespread return to the proper funding of proper journalism. The trend at the moment, however, is for less reporters, more stories, higher profits, and so long as that continues truth will suffer and so will we.
What do You think about Gebakken Lucht (2008)?
You won't watch the news in the same way again. Quite a disturbing book (in a good way).
—Kathy
Lets you know how Murdoch is destroying and distorting the news we read
—xxxameliefounderxxx
